Secondary 3 NT Art NAC-AISS Fashion Design Programme, "A Cultural Piece of You"
The Secondary 3 NT Art NAC-AISS Fashion Design Programme, "A Cultural Piece of You" offered our Secondary 3 Normal Technical Art students a unique opportunity to explore identity and culture through fashion design.
In a programme co-created by Springfield Secondary School Art Unit teachers and local fashion designers Hu Rui Xian and Eiliyah Ong, students embarked on an 11-session journey from March to May 2025 that brought together creativity, craftsmanship, and cultural storytelling in line with the revised Upper Secondary Art G1 Syllabus on Design Immersion, in order to contextualising design thinking and bring real-world examples of design into the classroom.
Through hands-on lessons in building portfolio in fashion design, fabric selection considerations and garment construction, students learned how fashion can communicate values of sustainability while exploring self-expression.
Learning journeys to Chinatown’s fabric stores and the artist’s studio enriched their understanding of cultural heritage, as well as educational career exploration in the local fashion design and textile industries. Many students described the experience as “exciting,” “meaningful,” and “confidence-building,” as they proudly created their first self-designed garments.
The project culminated in a lively classroom showcase where students presented their final designs — each piece a reflection of their personal story and cultural identity. As one student shared, “Good work takes time, but it feels special to wear something I made myself.”
Teachers also participated in a professional learning workshop, “Exploring Fashion Design through Hands-On Practice,” where they designed cultural pendants and reflected on how fashion can inspire creative learning. The collaboration between HHFZ Studio and Springfield’s Art Unit exemplified how authentic arts experiences nurture students’ imagination, tenacity, and appreciation for the arts through design thinking and immersion.